Ukyo Goes to Furinkan
by emptycardboardbox
Summary: ...but nobody knows that Ukyo isn't a boy. Also, Ukyo doesn't know about Ranma's curse either. Maximal chaos occurs.
1. Chapter 1

After an especially poor choice of judgement by Ranma, he had gotten into - and lost - a bet with Nabiki. The consequences? He had to go to school in his female form for the next three days. Right now, on the morning of Ranma's first day of punishment and shame, he was feeling rather angry about the whole situation.

"Damn Nabiki… I was sure she couldn't possibly get that much money off of the boys in my class!" Ranma muttered to himself. Well, he only had himself to blame for trying to bet against her. "I didn't even know they had that much money to spare, not least on her!"

Last week, Nabiki had approached Ranma with her latest devious scheme - she'd bet that she'd be able to make more than 100,000 yen off the boys in Ranma's class within that week. Over the past few months staying with the Tendos Ranma had accumulated a lot of debt from Nabiki, and he knew he had no way of paying her back within the next ten years. So when Nabiki had offered the condition that if she failed, she'd take that amount off of what Ranma owed, he really had little choice but to accept. Also, since Kuno was in the year above and didn't count, Ranma thought he had this in the bag. But at the end of the week, after several favours, sales and blackmails, Nabiki had been able to rake in more than double her quota. Naturally, Ranma had been shocked by this turn of events. What was more, Nabiki had kept an extensive record of all the dealings she had done in a little notebook, so that Ranma could check for himself that every single yen was actually obtained from the boys in his class at school.

Back to the situation at hand, Ranma, who was currently in his girl form, was inspecting the sailor uniform given to her. It would probably be too short for Akane, since this uniform appeared to be of a smaller size. In other words, what Ranma had in her hands was a brand-new uniform bought by Nabiki, presumably with some of the cash she had collected from the bet.

"Why does Nabiki even want me to do this? I don't see why she would have wanted me to appear as a girl," Ranma wondered. "She's got a lot of dedication though, actually buying a new uniform. I'm still going to throw it away when this is over though."

Just then, Akane's head poked round the door to see how Ranma was doing. Ranma turned around at the sound of the door creaking open. "Hey, I'm about to change-"  
"Oh hi Ranma, just seeing if you were really going to follow through with this whole schoolgirl thing," Akane said. "You know, I'm surprised you'd actually go through with it, what with how much you hate being a girl."

"Well, I really don't have any choice. I lost the bet after all, so I can't go back on what I said."

"Hmm. You're not… enjoying pretending to be a girl and dressing up, are you?"

Ranma was taken aback at this. "What? No way!" he spluttered. Then her eyes narrowed, looking back at Akane. "Do you not like seeing me like this then? Are you scared I'll take all the attention away from you in school?" To emphasise her point, Ranma puffed her chest out, in an unsubtle jab at Akane's size.

Akane was visibly enraged by this. "Ranma… are… you… calling… me… FLAT-CHESTED?!" She swung her fist round towards Ranma's head, which was quickly ducked under.

Ranma hopped past, squeezing between Akane and the doorway, and made her way downstairs. "Hurry up Akane, breakfast is ready!" she shouted over her shoulder down the corridor.

As a result, breakfast was a grim affair, with Akane glaring at Ranma all the way through and making scathing comments whenever Ranma spoke. Ranma's actions to provoke Akane didn't help the mood either.

"Hey, where's pops? Usually he's up real early."

"Dunno, but- hey, get your chopsticks off my food! Just because your father isn't here, doesn't mean you can go stealing other people's food!"

Nabiki sniggered at Ranma's actions, while Kasumi gave Ranma a stern look. Ranma quickly sank back into her seat.

"Sorry…"

* * *

After that they had to get to school. Ranma turned to Akane.

"Listen. I don't want anybody finding out I'm actually Ranma like this, so be sure to refer to me as something else, okay?" Ranma hissed.

"Sure, what?" Akane replied, somewhat scathingly.

"Um… Oh, just go with Ranko."

Ranma really couldn't be bothered to come up with anything original. Hopefully no-one would see through the disguise. Besides, he only had to keep it up for three days.

* * *

Kuno was waiting for the two of them at the entrance to Furinkan High. His eyes widened at the sight of his lovely pig-tailed girl in school uniform.

"O Pig-tailed Girl of my dreams and desires, it is true! The rumours I have heard of a new student in this school were about you! At last, you have graced us and our school with your noble presence. Do not fear, I will be here to guide you through! Nothing will come between the two of us!" Kuno proclaimed to the sky.

Akane cleared her throat loudly.

"Ah- Akane! I have not forgotten about you, my love! I will still forever pursue you, hoping for my feelings to be recognised!" Kuno hurriedly added.

"Oh, that's a new one, you're jealous that even Kuno is paying more attention to me?" Ranma asked Akane. Akane replied by storming ahead, ignoring him.

"Hey, come on now, Akane!" Ranma called out. She ran ahead, giving Kuno a fist to the face as she passed him. Akane was still in a sulky mood and turned her head away forcefully.

As the two girls walked ahead into the school building, Kuno began peeling himself off the ground. "Pig-tailed girl… Though you deny your feelings, you still come here every day! I will continue my noble pursuits for your love!"

* * *

Kuno burst into the classroom, and rushed over to bow at Nabiki's feet.

"I don't believe it! You have granted my wish of getting closer to the pig-tailed girl! I will be forever in your debt. Name a price, and I will be more than willing hand it over," Kuno said.

Nabiki smiled. Kuno's request of getting his "pig-tailed girl" to enrol in Furinkan High was quite challenging, even if she had expected it. Since Ranma's girl side was not an actual person of her own, she would have had to have forged birth certificates and a lot of other documents to do this normally. However, Nabiki had realised that Kuno was very easily deceived and would often jump to conclusions of his own that suited his worldview. So, instead, Nabiki just had to wait for a student in Ranma's year to transfer to Furinkan High. Then, if Kuno heard about a new student in the year below, and saw Ranma's girl side turn up in a school uniform, then he would immediately deduce that she had been enrolled. Of course, getting Ranma in a girl's sailor outfit was a slight challenge, but that was taken care of quite efficiently.

"A price… I'll think about it, I might need something from you later…" Now Nabiki had yet another hold over the dimwit - a favour, a difficult one too, and that was much more powerful than any photos she could sell.

* * *

So who was the new student at Furinkan High? The answer was, of course, not Ranma Saotome - or Ranko Saotome, for that matter. But that didn't stop a surprising amount of people from the class from crowding around her as if she was. Her red hair made her stick out like a sore thumb. Questions flew from every direction, and Ranma - now Ranko - was struggling to handle it. The other people all tended to shy away from Ranko, afraid of this new and unfamiliar situation. This was due to survival instinct - there was more than enough trouble in Nerima to get anyone killed, so staying away from the unusual was generally a good idea.

Due to all of the room's attention being focused on Ranko or directly away, nobody noticed the actual new face amongst them. He had only just arrived, since he was new he didn't know his way around the school. This boy with a long ponytail down his back wouldn't have called himself an attention seeker, but it was still annoying how nobody took notice of him. So he grabbed a random seat to the side of the commotion, and waited it out for registration to begin. He could start his spectacle then.

Meanwhile Ranko was intensely occupied with fending off all her classmates. It was becoming exhausting , having to repeat herself.

"My name is Ranko Tendo, and I'm Akane's cousin! That's why I came to school with her!" Ranko screeched, barely containing her frustration. Some had already seen Akane and Ranko come to school together and jumped to the conclusion that they were… together. Akane just couldn't get any peace from the gossip.

Just then, the teacher came in. Everybody turned to look at who was at the door, then groaned and slowly returned to their seats. The teacher walked up to the front of the classroom, and produced a set of notes from his briefing.

"Alright, as I'm sure you already know by now, today we are introducing a new student to our class. His name is… let's see here…"

Some of the class noticed the use of the pronoun "his", and were puzzled. Ranko, the new student, was clearly a girl, and Ranma, the male version, was already a student. Ranko herself was especially confused. After all, her male side was already enrolled into the school, even if he didn't turn up much, so why would Nabiki have put her down as male like this?

The reason was obviously that the transfer student was not Ranko. Somehow, nobody had noticed the real new student.

"Here we are… Ukyo Kuonji, please come up here and introduce yourself," the teacher announced.

Finally, Ukyo thought. He strided up to the front with his schoolbag. Now, at last, he could actually make himself known. Never mind that red-headed girl, sure she stood out a lot, but he would ensure he would soon be the one in charge.

Now that the whole class had their attention focused on the new boy, audible reactions could be heard from some of the girls in the class. "He's so handsome! And dreamy ~"

Ukyo ignored these comments. When he got to the front, he flipped out a portable grill from his bag, set it running, and started preparing twenty-two servings of okonomiyaki. One by one he flipped and flicked them out towards each member of the class.

When he had served up the last one, he slid away his grill.

"My name is Ukyo Kuonji. My speciality is okonomiyaki. Please enjoy."

With that, everybody in the class took a bite of their okonomiyaki.

Soon, comments flew out from all throughout the classroom.

"The texture… It's the perfect combination of succulent and crisp!"

"The sauce is divine!"

"This combination of fillings works amazingly!"

Ukyo smiled to himself. This was a good first impression. It certainly made up for how nobody noticed him at first.

Then, another cry emerged. This one made Ukyo's ears perk up.

"This flavour… Hey! I remember now! This is Ucchan's okonomiyaki!"

Ucchan… He definitely hadn't been called that in a long time. Looking around, Ukyo saw that this comment had came from the red-headed girl. A girl she had definitely never seen before in her life. He hurried over to ask.

"Hey, what did you call me?" Ukyo pointed one of her small spatulas at her threateningly. She didn't appreciate being called that - it brought up bad memories.

Ranko quickly realised her mistake. After all, here was no way that Ukyo would have met her in this form. She hurriedly tried to backtrack and make up an excuse.

"Er… You don't remember me? I guess I'm not surprised, but I once came to try your okonomiyaki. It was so good I couldn't help but remember you… I guess somewhere along the line I turned your name into Ucchan. It's a habit of mine, isn't that right, Akane-chan?"

Akane winced, but nodded. Ranko had said that in an annoyingly patronising tone.

Ukyo wasn't exactly satisfied, since he was pretty sure he would have remembered a girl with such bright red hair. But she didn't really feel like arguing, so she left the matter.

"Ahem…" the teacher said from the front, bringing the attention of the class back. "We're supposed to have a lesson now…"

Everybody groaned again, at having their rumour time cut short.

* * *

At breaktime, Ukyo decided to hang out with Ranko and Akane. They seemed to be where the centre attention was at in their class. Ukyo figured he would be able to learn a lot more about the social structure of the school by first observing them. And, of course, the best way to observe would be to get close. So with that, Ukyo had decided to try to befriend them.

He walked up to the two of them, and made himself noticed.

"Hi! Can I hang out with you?"

He was greeted with somewhat suspicious looks. At that point, Akane was still busy introducing Ranko to her friends Yuka and Sayuri. Moreover, right now they were a group of girls, and the new boy was giving an impression that he was trying to pick up girls.

But still, it didn't hurt to be civil. The four of them nodded, although slowly and reluctantly. Ukyo walked into the circle they formed, expanding to include himself.

Soon enough, Ukyo had managed to get a grasp of the situation. Ranko was apparently also new to this school, having only come today, even though she wasn't mentioned by the teacher in the morning. She lived with Akane, who seemed to be closer to her than the other two. Also, she had learnt that Akane and Ranko actually lived at a dojo, and were both enthusiastic about martial arts and fighting.

Anyway, now it was time to ask an important question - the whole reason she had moved to Nerima.

"Do you know of a boy called Ranma Saotome?" Ukyo said.

He immediately noticed a distinctive apprehension from Akane, and some tension from Ranko too. Yuka and Sayuri's faces also changed. There, it was clear they all knew him, or at least of him.

"Why?" was the first response Ukyo got, from Akane. Ranko had looked the other way. Yuka looked like she was about to answer, but had been interrupted by Akane.

Ukyo decided he could probably give a brief reason. "I met him a long time ago, when I was still a kid," he explained. "He… he stole one of my most important possessions. I know that it's very unlikely that I'll ever get it back. In doing so, he dishonoured me. So I have come far to search for revenge, to restore my honour. I heard he was in this school, but it seems he wasn't in today."

Akane gave a huff. "Sounds more like something his father would do, to be honest. But yes, I do know him, and he does go to this school. He's just not in today."

On the other hand, Ranko looked puzzled, as if she didn't believe the story or found some parts suspicious.

Ukyo decided to focus on what Akane said. "Oh yeah, I remember his father well too. I have already taken care of him though."

At that, Akane and Ranko both raised an eyebrow. Come to think of it, it was true that Ranma's father wasn't at breakfast.

"How did you do that? He's a really good martial artist - I don't think you could just 'take care of him'," Ranko said.

Ukyo gave a grin at that. "It's not difficult if you manage to surprise him. He was shocked enough to simply see me after all these years that he couldn't touch me."

"So what exactly did you end up doing to him then?" Akane asked.

"Hmm… I won't spoil it for you. Suffice it to say, he won't be causing anybody any more trouble where he is now."

Ranko laughed loudly at that. She has a strange sense of humour, Ukyo thought.

Akane, on the other hand, looked worried. "You haven't done anything too bad, have you?"

"Er… well, just don't expect to see him for the next… six months or so." Ukyo replied. He left it at that cryptic comment.

Ranko spoke up at that moment. "His son Ranma is even better though. You'll never take him by surprise."

"I wasn't intending to. Since he was the one who dishonoured me, I'm going to challenge him to a duel, fair and square. If I beat him, then I will have successfully restored my honour."

"Hang on," Akane piped up, "does that mean that you'll leave after that?"

"No, don't worry, I'll be staying here for quite a while. There's still a lot of setting up to do, but I'll be opening an okonomiyaki restaurant here very soon."

At that, everyone lit up.

"My okonomiyaki is already making a great impression among our class, so I think I'll have especially good business here." Ukyo continued.

"That's so cool!" Sayuri said, "you're only as old as us and you're already setting up your own shop and business. I wish I had that sort of skill…"

Ukyo scratched the back of his head, smiling. "It's quite stressful actually, having to keep track of all the costs and ingredients. I wouldn't recommend it."

"Still, we'll all be sure to visit you on your opening day!" Sayuri said. "Isn't that right?"

Yuka, Akane and Ranko all nodded.

Just then, another group of girls walked by them. Noticing Ukyo, they approached, trying to strike up some conversation.

"Hey there Ukyo, would you like to talk with us as well?" said the leader of the gang. She then winked. "Those four you're with over there - well, they're not the best to hang around. You'll get into trouble. Come with us instead!"

Ukyo gave a polite smile. "Sorry, but I'm fine where I am right now."

At the same time, Akane shouted "Hey, what are you saying about me?" She was not pleased with the insult they had just given.

Ukyo turned back at Akane. "Calm down, they're only trying to get me to go with them. You shouldn't take it personally."

The leader of the opposing gang sulked for a moment, having been rejected, but changed back to a smile. "We're just telling you, if you ever want to hang out with us, Ukyo, you're totally welcome to do so." Then they walked away.

Ukyo turned back to the four girls he was already with. "God, they're annoying. I hope they get the hint and stay away."

"Not likely, unfortunately. Everyone here at Furinkan seems to be very persistent with love." Akane said, with a frown on her face. "You'll probably see soon, or tomorrow."

* * *

Actually, Ukyo got to see more of Furinkan's craziness that same day, during lunchtime. Kuno had found Ranko again, and was harassing her with roses and lengthy declarations.

"Join me, o beautacious maiden, in my love! My heart lingers on for you and you alone!"

Ukyo was quite bemused by the sight of this. Akane and Ranko, on the other hand, had been through this many times before, so they both turned around from where they were sitting and walked over to him.

Kuno reacted to this by trying to praise the both of them. "Akane as well! Why, the both of you together on this fine day, have come to greet me? I feel most humbled by your gracious presences."

Upon realising that Kuno was trying to court the both of them, and at the same time as well, Ukyo stood up too.

"Hey, you. Are you seriously trying to pick up both Akane and Ranko here at the same time?"

Kuno was taken aback by this new face, and his protestings. "Excuse me, but am I not free to pursue my romances? My name is Tatewaki Kuno, by the way. Please refer to me by that name if you wish to continue talking to me."

Ukyo was not impressed by Kuno's words. "I can call you whatever I want, thank you very much. And, to be honest, it doesn't look to me like either of them appreciate your efforts."

"Nonsense! I'm sure Akane and my lovely pig-tailed girl both share my feelings! See?" Kuno said, walking over with arms open and ready to hug the both of them at the same time.

This was met with two fists to the face from Akane and Ranko. Kuno was sent flying backwards.

"...And that's Kuno. He constantly hits on us. It's especially annoying on me, since he still hasn't realised I'm-" Ranko cut herself off before she accidentally revealed her secret to Ukyo.

"Hey, don't forget how he set the entire male population of the school on me for every morning!" Akane pointed out.

"Wait, what's this all about?" Ukyo asked. He hadn't heard of the story, and hadn't seen it either since all the boys had stopped when Ranma moved to the school.

So Akane explained what had happened. "Kuno had this crush on me last year, and at the end of the year everybody had to make a speech. Kuno, the idiot he is, declared that anyone wanting to date me had to defeat me in battle first. And naturally he didn't ask me first, or let me know about any of this. Even worse, all the boys seemed to take it as a sign that they could date me as soon as they beat me in battle. So every morning a swarm of them would charge against me and try to take me out before school began."

Ukyo widened her eyes at this. "Wow. That must have been terrible."

Akane nodded. "That's why I hate Kuno so much, forcing me to fight everyone every morning."

"Wait, and you never lost? Not once?" Ukyo asked.

"Yeah. My family runs a dojo, you know."

Ukyo seemed impressed by this, given his facial expression. "Hmm, that says a lot about the boys here at Furinkan," he commented. "Seems like they're all terrible."

Indeed, Ukyo had already resolved to change the school population of Furinkan High at that moment. The place needed cleaning up.

* * *

 **There we are then! That's the end of this first chapter. It's not a great ending point, but I couldn't think of much more to add to this.**

 **Look forward to chapter 2!**


	2. Chapter 2

Tuesday - the second day of the week. It was also Ukyo's second day, at Furinkan High. Today, he made sure he turned up earlier to school. That way he could see the commotion that Akane had talked about yesterday: the daily brawl with the male student population. It sounded pretty terrible.

A while later, Ukyo saw Ranko and Akane walk in through the school gates. Ukyo was waiting on the school yard, so he could see and hear Ranko and Akane.

"Come on, _Ranko,_ stop complaining. You yourself agreed to this, so there's no backing out."

"But I was cheated into this! Nabiki deceived me, I didn't know the terms of the bet!"

"Whatever, that's no excuse. Besides, surely you don't hate being a girl this much?"

"Huh? Actually-" It was at this point that Ranko saw Ukyo, who was sat on the school steps, staring at the two of them. Ranko quickly stopped speaking.

"Hey! Where are all the boys you said would be attacking you, then?" Ukyo called out at Akane. "Didn't you talk about them ambushing you?"

Akane explained. "They all gave up. When Ranma first showed up to this school and knocked out Kuno in only a few seconds, they decided then that they weren't skilled enough."

Ukyo tensed at hearing Ranma's name again. "Why does him defeating Kuno have anything to do with you?"

"Erm, well, he's my fiancé," Akane said quite quietly, looking downward. "But it's not because I like him! Our parents-"

"Whoa whoa whoa, hold on a second. That… Ranma… you're his fiancée now?" Ukyo shouted. He became especially angry at this statement.

"...yes… but he doesn't want it either! We were forced into it by our parents!" Akane retorted.

Ukyo let out a short, cold laugh. "Of course it is. That sounds just like him. I guess he hasn't changed at all."

Ranko decided to interrupt. "What do you mean, that sounds just like m- um, Ranma?" she asked.

Before Ukyo could think of a response, the school doors opened behind him. Out strode Kuno, fully dressed in kendo uniform.

"Ranko Tendo! I have at last discovered your name! Please, allow me the honour of discovering you further!" he proclaimed.

Ranko reacted with a face of disgust. "Ew! No way!"

"Hey!" Ukyo grabbed Kuno's attention. "I thought you were trying to win over Akane. Especially what with you trying to defeat her to win her over."

Kuno tuned to face Ukyo. He looked at him up and down, as if surveying his body language.

"Ah!" he then suddenly exclaimed. He snapped his gaze over to Akane. "That's right!" He unsheathed his wooden sword, and held it high above his head, charging towards her.

Akane's reaction was to shout at Ukyo. "Why would you do that? Stay out of my business!" Then she had to quickly dodge the blade that was quickly descending onto her.

Akane turned to face Kuno. He was readying his second attack, again lifting his sword up. Kuno was completely oblivious to his surroundings. So he was completely unable to spot Ranko approaching, or her kick.

Kuno was sent flying into the air, far into the sky. Akane's anger was instantly redirected to Ranko. "I could have dealt with him myself, you know!" she said with a huff. She walked into the school building. Ranko looked unsure for a few seconds, but then followed Akane as well.

Ukyo was already thinking what his next actions should be. It seemed that even though Kuno was insane, all the boys still recognised him as one of the strongest of the school.

* * *

Breaktime - time to research a little more for Ukyo. He still had to get to grips with the layout of the school, but he could get his way around well enough now for his current purposes. So he headed down a flight of stairs, then right, across the corridor, and right again to find himself at the school noticeboard.

On there were listed several things. Results of past tests, a list of staff members, the canteen menu, and quite a few posters advertising the range of school clubs the school had to offer.

Tests. Ukyo looked for the names he knew. Akane was in the top third, whereas Ranma Saotome was right near the bottom, with less than twenty percent in the few tests he actually turned up for. Ranko Tendo was nowhere to be seen, but another Tendo - presumably Akane's elder sister - was at the top of her year. Kuno was, surprisingly enough, in the upper half. Maybe it was his poetry skills that pulled his grade up, Ukyo thought to himself.

Staff members. The only thing here that caught Ukyo's eye was the headmaster, who was apparently also a Kuno. Huh. However he was currently on holiday in Hawaii, for the past few months it seemed.

The canteen menu looked boring, bland and unappealing. Great, he could easily set up shop here and make an easy profit. If he sold to teachers as well they would be less likely to shut him down and claim it was against school rules.

Among the school club posters there was one for kendo. That must be the one that Kuno goes to. Ukyo checked the times - great, it was on this lunch! - and made his mind up to go and check on it later when it was on.

* * *

Lessons were a pain, everyone could agree on that. So self-study lessons were a great break from that. Moreover, it meant that Ukyo could pick up the gossip and scope out some more.

Today's subject of conversation was the same as yesterday - the new girl Ranko Tendo. Some people had seen how Ranko had effortlessly defeated Kuno this morning, and also yesterday. So once again Ranko had to bat off multiple rounds of questions.

"How are you so strong? How did you become so good at fighting?"

"Er… I learnt it at the Tendo Dojo!" Ranko said, looking over at Akane to check with her it was alright. "I always loved to fight, so I did a lot of training with my uncle, Akane's father."

Well, Ranko thought to herself, if this makes people want to train at the dojo then it'll be good business for Akane's family.

Hang on. Ranko really didn't want any more trouble at the Tendo Dojo. She quickly decided to try to deter people from going.

"But, after a few years of study I found that I had already surpassed him. So I just started training on my own! That's how you get really strong!" Ranko said, smiling and flexing a muscle for emphasis. This was met with nods of excitement and approval.

Ranko looked over at Akane again. This time, she seemed distinctly less impressed, more like she was annoyed at her boasting. Whoops. Seems like anything she says will upset her.

* * *

Once lunchtime came around, Ukyo headed off to the school gym. He hoped to see the kendo club and Kuno there. When he approached, he could hear sounds of swords striking each other, and the occasional call of a clean hit. However, Ukyo looked around and could not see Kuno anywhere amongst them.

"Do any of you guys know where Kuno is? I thought he was the captain of the kendo team, so I'd find him here."

One of the boys turned round to respond, taking off the helmet he was wearing. "Oh, he's probably off trying to win over Akane as usual. He's always late. You can wait here if you like though, he should turn up in a few minutes."

"Thanks, I'll stay here then," Ukyo said.

"Oh! You're the new kid here, right? If you want to, feel free to join the kendo club! We could do with more people on our team. Except for Kuno, none of us are that good so you won't fall behind or anything." The kendo boy seemed quite enthusiastic about recruiting new members, Ukyo thought.

"I'll think it about it then."

Ukyo stood next to the wall at the back of the gym, watching the boys train. They certainly weren't skilled, and weren't training well either - they were simply going through the motions, and those that were duelling with each other looked decidedly sloppy. Some of them were giggling as well while they were fighting, clearly not taking it seriously. Without anybody to guide them, the kendo team was nowhere near up to standard.

After a few more minutes, Kuno walked into the gym. Surprisingly, he had no scratches or bruises on him. He had managed to avoid getting into a fight while he was chasing Akane, or rather, he had avoided being punched in the face by Akane.

This was when Ukyo decided to straighten himself out, and walked to the centre of the gym. He was holding a spare wooden sword used for training, picked up from the floor.

"Tatewaki Kuno! You are the captain of the kendo team, correct?" he said, loudly.

Kuno was shocked at the sight of this newcomer to the kendo team. The rest of the team quickly backed away to the sides of the gym, sensing a conflict about to happen.

"Yes, I am the captain," Kuno said.

Ukyo quickly said his next statement. "Very well! In that case, I, Ukyo Kuonji, challenge you to a sword duel!"

Gasps of surprise emerged from the kendo team. A complete newbie, come here to challenge their captain Kuno? It was very well known that Kuno was the best at sword combat throughout the whole of Furinkan, possibly Nerima. While it was true that he had often been beaten by others such as Ranma and Akane, that was merely because they did not wield swords. Ukyo's bravery at challenging Kuno on equal teams like this was unprecedented.

Kuno, full of confidence from this, gave a sharp grin. "I accept your challenge! I take it you wish to duel me now, given where we are? I must say, you have put yourself into quite a corner here, being surrounded by my team." Kuno unsheathed his wooden blade, and assumed a fighting stance. "First to land a clean hit is the victor. I wouldn't want to seriously injure a new student!"

Kuno charged forward, holding his blade at his side. Once he got to within striking distance of Ukyo, he thrusted his sword forward, shifting his weight forward as well.

Ukyo, though, had already sidestepped this stab. He performed a quick upwards slash at Kuno's exposed side, but Kuno had already blocked it with a flick of the wrist.

"You think I would leave myself so exposed, like some sort of rookie?" Kuno taunted. "I've experienced enough sword duels to know how to cover that!"

Ukyo hissed. He responded by making a series of blows towards Kuno, all of which were cast aside by Kuno's sword. The clacks the two swords made against each other rang out and echoed in the gym.

Kuno then raised his sword upwards, in his signature head strike move. Ukyo raised his sword to block it, but the force of Kuno's blade coming down was unstoppable. Ukyo could barely keep the edge from making a significant dent in his head.

"Heh… Good, you're putting up some fight. I would be disappointed if you lost this early." Kuno said. Ukyo couldn't reply, since he was still struggling to hold up Kuno's sword, having to use both hands on his sword.

Kuno then shifted his stance. Instinctively, Ukyo sidestepped to the left, and managed to narrowly avoid Kuno's next strike, towards his abdomen. Kuno was now the one putting pressure on Ukyo, following up with a series of strikes and slashes that Ukyo couldn't quite avoid. Instead he had to try to block them, which took a toll on his blade and his arms.

"Gah!" Ukyo cried out. This situation was turning bad, Kuno was very efficient at not letting up on him. His offensive capabilities were very strong. "No wonder everybody else looks up to Kuno," Ukyo thought.

Suddenly Ukyo gave another sharp cry - Kuno's last attack had sent Ukyo's sword flying out of his hands and across the gym. It bounced and rattled against the wooden flooring, coming to a stop near the feet of some other kendo team members.

Ukyo had to scramble across the floor to reach his sword again, and was only just able to raise it up in time to block Kuno's next round of attacks. This had to end quickly, Ukyo realised, otherwise Kuno would be able to completely erode away his defences.

Luckily Ukyo realised that his position was actually advantageous right now. Pressing his left hand against the floor, he pushed himself across, catching Kuno's foot. Ukyo then hooked his own foot against Kuno's ankle, and rolled along the floor. This toppled Kuno off balance, forcing him to relent and stumble. Ukyo quickly took this opportunity to hop up from the floor and rush back.

Kuno, recovering from the stumble, turned around to see Ukyo already at the other side of the gym. "Running away, are you? Have you finally realised that you cannot beat me?" Kuno charged forward again, the exact same way as he first did.

Once again, his running stab attack failed to connect - Ukyo had dodged it. He had vanished from Kuno's sight! Kuno quickly turned around, raising his sword to block the attack from behind.

But it never came. Instead, he was struck on the back of the head, instantly knocking him down and out. Ukyo had jumped high up into the air instead to dodge, and following up by performing his own version of the head strike.

As Kuno's body fell to the floor and made a large thud, the rest of the gym was filled with silence. Kuno had never been defeated in a sword duel ever before.

However, he was soon back around. Kuno had quickly come to. He sat up, astonished at this defeat.

"How…? I… I am undefeatable! How were you able to beat me, the Blue Thunder, the champion of Furinkan? I've been bested by… this new kid?"

Ukyo saw this opportunity to lecture Kuno. "You've grown too lax, Kuno. Your cocky attitude led to you resting on your laurels. I saw the state of the team you are supposed to lead. You haven't been doing any training recently, have you?"

Kuno stared at the ground, mouth gaping open. "No… But… But I am still the best! This should not have happened!"

"Your team's in disarray, Kuno. It seriously needs sorting out. The way I see it, I've got no choice but to lead the team instead of you, Kuno."

"You… as the captain? But I am the capt-"

"No. You don't deserve to be the captain anymore, what with how complacent you've gotten."  
"Then, what will I do? I have disgraced myself. How can I redeem myself then?"

"Hmm… I suppose you can become my apprentice."

"Apprentice?" Kuno was taken aback. "Why, the cheek-"

"I don't think you're in any position to say that now, are you? Besides, you can consider it an honour to be allowed to train under the only one who has beaten you."

Ukyo then turned to face the crowd of other kendoists. "You've all now witnessed this. I expect you to all remember this. I'm now your new captain, so you had all better do what I tell you to, got it?"

The kendo team could do nothing but nod and agree to the new strongest.

* * *

The new kid, Ukyo, had defeated Kuno in a sword duel? Well this was certainly unexpected. Nabiki wondered what to do next. Currently she was in a maths lesson. Well, she already had more than enough experience with sums, so she didn't bother paying much attention, instead choosing to spend her time figuring out what a good plan of action would be. The fact that she had spent so much effort convincing Kuno she had managed to get Ranko to Furinkan and it all went to waste was frustrating, to say the least. The extra layers of control she had had over Kuno were now useless, since Ukyo could command Kuno to do whatever he wanted. However, Nabiki knew she still had some leeway over Kuno. After Ukyo, she was the one with the most control of Kuno.

Still, this new contender in the politics of Furinkan would be a challenge to deal with. Ukyo had a massive advantage over Nabiki, since he was clearly very talented at sword fighting. Moreover, it would seem that he was planning to sell his already-famous okonomiyaki to the school population. This could easily get him favours. Also, it would be troublesome if Ukyo drew people's attention - and wallets - away from the almost regular fights involving Ranma. Nabiki could deal with this by striking a deal with him, maybe. It would still be a lot more convenient if Nabiki had some dirt on Ukyo though. So far she knew nothing about his past, or any secrets of his. He certainly had some, everybody did, and his actions were especially indicative of this.

Right, then, so Nabiki would have to hang around Ukyo for a bit to find out a lot more about him.

Anyway, back to the class at hand…

"So how would you find the area of this L-shape?" the teacher asked. "Nabiki? You seem to be daydreaming over there."

Nabiki quickly looked back over to the blackboard. "It's 78 centimetres squared, sir."

* * *

"Did you hear? Ukyo defeated Kuno in a sword duel this lunchtime at school!" Akane told Ranko.

"Huh? So what?" Ranko turned around to look back at Akane. She was stood next to the stove, waiting for the kettle to boil. The two of them had just gotten back from school, and Ranko was taking this opportunity to turn back into her male form.

Akane sighed. "Okay, I guess you didn't know about it, but Kuno is actually really good at sword combat."

Ranko raised an eyebrow. "Doesn't seem like it to me."

"Well, he's won multiple competitions at national level. That's why everybody in the school actually respects him to some degree. Except for you, I guess," Akane explained. "Even you probably couldn't defeat him if you had to use a sword."

The hissing of the kettle signalled that it was ready. Akane turned off the gas, picked the kettle up, and poured the boiling water onto Ranko's head.

Ranko winced as the water hit her hair. "Ow! I've said before, it doesn't have to be this hot!"

Akane grinned. "Still worked, didn't it?"

Ranko, now Ranma, looked at himself. Sure enough, he was back to being a boy. "That's not the point!"

"So, back to Ukyo," Akane said, "you'd better watch out, he's good at fighting."

Ranma scoffed. "Beating Kuno's still nothing special, even if he does have a bunch of awards. I bet if you gave me a week I could win against him in a sword duel."

"Is that a challenge?"

"Sure!" Ranma replied, very full of himself.

* * *

 **Thanks for all the reviews for the first chapter!**

 **Response to Compucles' review - Actually, I haven't read the manga at all, and I haven't even watched the anime in a very long time, so apologies for any and all errors (such as people not knowing about Ranma's curse).**

 **I'm not sure how this story will actually turn out, I'm just writing and seeing what I end up putting down as happening.**

 **Hopefully I will update again soon, but I'm not very reliable...**


	3. Chapter 3

It was the worst day of the week, Wednesday. Why? Because Wednesday afternoons were the dreaded Physical Education classes. Now, Akane definitely wasn't against PE, or anything like that, in fact she quite enjoyed going outdoors and getting some fresh air while playing some ball games. However, the worst part of it were the beginning and the end: when Akane had to change in and out of her PE kit. It was bad enough when you had boys such as Ranma taking peeks into the girls' changing rooms, but quite recently a new pest had come to the fore. This, of course, was the shrivelled-up midget excuse of a human being known as Happosai. He was the worst pervert in possibly the whole of history, literally latching on to the first girl's chest he could see. And he didn't stop at fondling, either. This creep would go into people's houses at night in order to steal their bras and other items of underwear. Lingerie shops in the local area would probably make a killing from all the replacements girls had to buy every week if they themselves weren't being robbed regularly. Happosai was an unstoppable force of evil.

Anyway, faced with the uncomfortable prospect of having to deal with Happosai's eyes as well as all the other boys in their class, the girls had had enough with the ongoing perversion and had come up with a strategy that would minimise the chances of being seen without anything on.

However, Ranko had forgotten to follow this plan, or rather, forgotten to set up for it. In fact, she had completely forgotten that they had PE lessons on Wednesdays, and also didn't have any kit to change into.

Because of this, when Ranko turned up to school and arrived at her classroom, she stuck out like a sore thumb.

"Oh, hey Ranko! Why aren't you in your PE kit, like all the other girls?" Ukyo asked as he saw her.

Every other girl had turned up to school in their kit. This way they didn't have to change at all. Their teacher wasn't particularly pleased since it meant the classroom stank of sweat when they got back from their PE lesson, and most of the boys took the opportunity to ogle and fantasise about some of the girls in their white t-shirts and shorts. Still, it was better than the risk of having them see the girls in nothing but underwear.

Back to the question at hand, Ranko was also surprised at seeing the other girls all in PE kit, but only for a few moments.

"Oh, I completely forgot we had PE today!" Ranko said, smiling widely at Ukyo.

Akane looked shocked at this. "I thought you had something planned, but you actually just completely forgot?" she asked Ranko. "How did you not notice that I was in my PE kit?"

"Er… Probably because you're always in your PE kit?"

"No I'm not! Firstly, I wear a proper gi when I train, not this." Akane huffed.

Ukyo decided to quickly intervene. He had already seen enough of their arguments in the two days he'd been here. It was time to change the subject and move on.

"So what do you think of the kendo club? Akane? Ranko?"

Momentarily distracted, Akane turned to face Ukyo and her anger dissipated. "Hmm? Well, I don't know much about them, except that they all used to try and beat me up. And Kuno's the captain." Akane looked up for a second. "Wait, he's not anymore, is he? Ever since you beat him in a duel!"

Ranko had some things to say about their skill. "They're all terrible."

Ukyo laughed. "That is true. But now I'm the captain I have to train them."

"Good luck with that! They're nowhere near good enough to do any proper fighting."

Just then, one member of the kendo team walked over. He had happened to overhear what Ranko had said.

"Ranko, why? Why would you insult me like that?" he said, tears forming in his eyes.

"Oh dear," Ukyo commented, "they seem to be as crazy about you as Kuno."

Ranko's face paled, from seeing how she already had this sort of effect on boys. "Yeah… I would definitely be grateful if you were to tell them not to do that. Ever again."

Ukyo frowned. "I honestly wonder what goes through the heads of the boys in this school."

* * *

After the events of yesterday, Kuno felt humiliated and usurped. In the heat of the moment he had committed to something that he was deeply regretting now, to become Ukyo's apprentice. It was an insult to him, his skill and his honour! Kuno figured that he had to retaliate, to prove himself better than this newbie Ukyo who got lucky once, and then held it up against him.

From behind a tree, Kuno spied Ukyo. He was currently stood facing away from Kuno, talking to Ranko. Akane, Yuka and Sayuri were also there, but nobody had spotted him yet. Taking one more quick glance around to make sure nobody was about to get in the way, Kuno grabbed his wooden sword and rushed forward. He held his sword high up, ready to strike Ukyo down.

The blade swung down, and Ukyo, sensing an attacker behind him, dodged slightly to the side. Kuno's attack barely missed Ukyo's shoulder.

Kuno lifted his blade up to try to slash at Ukyo, but by that time Ukyo had already spun around to face the ambush.

It was only then that Kuno's side attack registered to the girls, and Yuka let out a scream. Everybody nearby turned to look at the commotion. And in the split second it took for them to turn and look, Ukyo had already landed a solid blow to the back of Kuno's neck with his elbow. Kuno was immediately floored. Ukyo looked down at him, towering above.

"Kuno! What the hell are you doing?" he said, half enraged by this sudden action.

Kuno looked back up at Ukyo, trembling in fear.

"Hmm… Oh! I get it. You're trying to attack me. Well, you put way too much force into your downward swing so it was easy for me to counterattack."

Then Ukyo turned back to talk with his friends, going back to completely ignoring Kuno again. Kuno could only stand there, shocked by this completely unexpected reaction.

* * *

That, however, was not the last of Kuno's attempts to attack Ukyo. He tried again and again, through breaktime and even during lessons. He would charge in with various levels of stealth, but always with the same sword, and the same attack. Ukyo would counter with something different each time, ranging from a kick to the stomach to a pencil to the nostril. It was becoming quite annoying for Ukyo, since Kuno never listened to the advice he gave. It was already the sixth time he had told Kuno to use different attacks in a fight, but he still insisted on opening with his head slash.

The bell rang to signify the end of lessons and the beginning of lunchtime. The class got up, packing their stuff away and separating for their lunch. The last lesson had been very unproductive, since Kuno was always interrupting the teacher.

And once more, Kuno burst through the doors, charging at Ukyo, wooden sword in hand, held up high, aimed downward at Ukyo's head. It was routine by now. This time, Ukyo decided to slide under the attack and take Kuno's feet.

Ukyo let out a long sigh. It was getting annoying by now. "I'd really appreciate it if you stopped attacking me at least for lunchtime. Otherwise you're just asking me to beat you up."

* * *

Today was a good day to investigate Ukyo, Nabiki thought to herself. She'd seen him deflect all of Kuno's attacks during break time, and figured that the reason Kuno wasn't in lessons for the second half of the morning was because he was busy trying to attack Ukyo. This was from all the commotion she could hear, as well as some sighs of exasperation from the floor below.

Nabiki could see that on the school yard Ukyo had set up his portable grill, and had stuck a piece of paper to it with "Okonomiyaki - 100 yen" written on it. Already, crowds were beginning to form around. Sounds of sizzling and a fascinating aroma were emerging from the grill. Nabiki decided to queue up too to try one of the okonomiyaki.

The queue was long, and Nabiki had lots of time to think more about Ukyo. What sort of profit margins was he making on his sales? Why had he become Kuno's master? HOw could she find out about his secrets? Would he put the Cat Cafe out of business?

Soon enough, Nabiki had reached the front of the line. Ukyo looked up from the grill, and into her eyes.

"Here's yours," he said, passing up an okonomiyaki on a paper plate, and holding out his other hand for the 100 yen.

Nabiki hesitated for a moment. Then she put a 100 yen coin into his palm, took the okonomiyaki, and moved out of the way for the next person.

The okonomiyaki tasted really good.

* * *

The dreaded afternoon finally came. It was time for PE.

Ranko had a major problem, she had no PE kit. There wasn't she could have done about that, Nabiki never bought one for her, and she didn't actually have the money to buy one herself. They were quite expensive, as it turned out. So she had to find a smelly, dirty kit from the spare kit bin. It was the wrong size as well, they were all so small she was unable to put it on or so big it went down past her knees. Ranko had to settle for an oversized t-shirt, which smelt suspiciously like urine. It was disgusting, but the other option was to sit out of PE and receive a detention, which she really didn't need.

The bigger problem, though, was that Ranko was the only one who was changing. This meant that she was all alone in the changing rooms while all the other girls were outside doing warm-up exercises. Ranko was left without anyone to shield her from prying eyes.

Sure enough, about ten boys were crowded around the crack in the door to the girls' changing room, all pushing past each other to get a good view.

"Hey, let me take a look-"

"You're blocking me!"

"Oi, budge up a bit."

Ranko, of course, could hear all of the hustle and bustle outside.

"I can hear you all, you know! Now stop peeking!" she shouted at the door.

All of the boys outside froze. They didn't move an inch, partly from fear of getting found out again, but mainly because they wanted to continue watching.

Now Ranko's top was off, and her bra was visible. Her breasts sure are big, all the boys thought, but nobody dared say it out loud.

Suddenly a crashing sound came from the window. Ranko turned to look, and saw that it was broken. Then she felt something touch her breasts. She looked down.

Happosai was hanging on to her chest, snuggling up against her bare skin. "So soft… So wonderful…" he sighed.

Ranko let out a high-pitched scream. "Get… off meeeee!" She shook about, trying to shake him off.

All of the boys outside could see what was happening, but none of them wanted to risk going in to help out. They might have been able to help, but it wasn't worth get punched by Ranko, because that would inevitably happen.

So they all stood there, watching in silence as Ranko struggled to detach Happosai from her chest, feeling guilty about themselves.

* * *

Meanwhile, Ukyo was in the boys' changing rooms. He was hiding in the corner so that he would be less likely to be noticed. Unfortunately, quite a few boys had already changed and had left the changing rooms, off to somewhere else. This meant that there was less hustle and bustle to hide behind. Ukyo really couldn't stand changing in front of boys, so he had already prepared by wearing his PE kit underneath his original clothes. It made normal lessons almost unbearably hot, but he was used to working under high temperatures from being near a grill all the time.

"Yo! Ukyo!" somebody called out.

Ukyo turned around from the corner to look at who was talking to him. It wasn't someone he knew.

"How come you always seem to be hanging around girls, hey?"

He had a point. Ukyo still preferred to socialise with girls rather than boys.

Just then, he heard a cry from the other side of the wall.

"I can hear you all, you know! Now stop peeking!"

It was Ranko, Ukyo recognised the voice. Also he knew all the other girls were already outside warming up. That cry was a good excuse for what this boy, whatever his name was, asked.

"I don't really want to associate myself with perverts."

That may have come across as quite cold, actually. Ah well, it didn't matter too much, since he was the one now teaching the kendo team. Plus Ukyo really didn't want to be talking to anyone while changing, or doing anything that wasted time while changing.

* * *

On the track the girls were running around, a new character appeared. He looked around, trying to work out where he was, squinting to try to find any signs.

Akane noticed this lost boy, and called out to him. "Hey! Ryoga! Is that you?"

Ryoga heard his name, and looked around. There, in front of him, was Akane! Seems like he had found his way back to Furinkan High. He ran on over to Akane, excited to see her.

"So it is you, Ryoga! What are you doing here?" Akane asked, seeing him making his way over.

Ryoga then realised who he was running to, and a bout of nervousness fell onto him.

"Umm... " he stumbled over what he was about to say. His face grew very red, and he looked downwards to hide his face.

"I'm looking for Ranma!" Ryoga managed to burst out, before hurriedly dashing away from Akane to find him. Of course, he was heading the completely wrong way to the boys' changing rooms, but that was unexpectedly lucky for him.

Ryoga could see directly in front of him Ranko stepping out of the changing rooms. She was walking unsteadily, and in a daze.

"Ranma!" Ryoga shouted. "I've finally found you! Now, it is time for you to pay for what you've done to me!"

However, Ranko did not reply. Instead, she huddled up closer to herself, wrapping her arms round, and slowly began to walk away from the changing rooms and Ryoga towards the other girls.

"Huh? Hey, don't ignore me!" Ryoga shouted. "Ranmaaaaaaa!"

Ranko looked back at him, and replied "I'm really not in any mood right now." Then she continued on walking, mumbling something about how cowardly boys in Furinkan were.

Ryoga was taken aback by this unexpected reaction. "I wonder what's up with him…"

* * *

Ranko finally caught up with the rest of the girls. Some turned around to see her, and noticed the state she was in.

"Oh… Oh no, what happened in the changing rooms?" Sayuri asked.

Ranko mumbled something they couldn't make out.

"Sorry?"

"...Happosai."  
"Oh dear! Are you alright? I'll go talk to the teacher if you need a break."

"No, I'll be fine doing PE. Besides, I need to take my mind off that."

"Okay. Just, it's totally fine if you don't want to." Sayuri said. "Damn, we're really sorry we forgot to warn you yesterday."

Akane then saw the crowd gathered around Ranko. "What's going on now?" she asked, trying to push her way through.

"Ranko was in the changing rooms all by herself, and then Happosai came in." Sayuri explained.

"Oh. Well, serves her right, I guess that teaches her not to peek at me all the time!" Akane said, unsympathetically.

"Akane!" Sayuri exclaimed, shocked at her cruel words. "Be considerate! She's just had a traumatic experience, and that's what you say?"

Well, Akane thought, if only you knew. They wouldn't be all fawning over Ranko like this if they knew that she was actually a boy in disguise, would they? And one who freely used the girl's changing rooms, too! This sort of perverted behaviour meant that really Ranma had it coming.

By this point Ryoga had found the commotion surrounding Ranko as well. He noticed that the girls seemed to be arguing with Akane, and probably about Ranma. He should go to help Akane!

"What's going on? Why are you arguing?" he asked, nudging through to reach Akane.

Sayuri tried to explain. "Poor Ranko over here forgot to come to school in her PE kit, so she had to change all by herself. Then she got groped by Happosai while changing."

Ryoga nodded, processing this. Then he realised that nodding wasn't the best reaction, but couldn't do anything about it. So it seemed that everyone was calling Ranma Ranko, for some reason. And she had been attending school as a girl when she was molested. It must have been terrible.

"Then when Akane hears about this, her first reaction is to say 'she deserved it'!" Sayuri continued. "Can you even see the state she's in? You can't go round victim blaming!"  
Ryoga thought about it a bit longer again. It was true, he himself could remember the numerous times Ranma had also peeked at girls changing, and sometimes even grabbing them. It was a lot harder to sympathise with him when he knew Ranma had also done the same to other girls.

"I'm not victim blaming!" Akane half-screeched, getting annoyed with how everybody was siding with Ranko. "Urgh! You wouldn't understand!"

The argument continued on throughout the rest of the lesson, even after Ranko had recovered and was getting into doing all sorts of crazy gymnastics.

* * *

Meanwhile, in Hokkaido, an unsuspecting couple answered the door to find the postman lugging a massive parcel to their door.

"That's odd, I wonder who would send such a thing to us," the wife said idly. "Be a darling and help me get this parcel inside, will you?" she called to her husband.

After a decent amount of work, they had managed to move the parcel into the living room.

"Time to open it up!" the husband said. Using a box cutter, he traced a line across the top of the box, cutting the tape across the gap.

Inside the box was a large amount of bubble wrap and polystyrene puffs. Digging through the packaging, the couple worked their way to the centre of the parcel's contents.

Suddenly, out popped a middle-aged, fat man wearing a martial artist's gi. "Ah! Finally, I can breathe!" he cried out in relief.

The wife and husband looked at each other, confusion evident on their faces. Then, realising neither of them knew who this strange man was, they turned back to look at him.

"Who are you?"

"What are you doing here?"

The strange fat man looked back at the couple. He began trying to explain.

"I'm Genma Saotome! It looks like somebody mailed me to your door without me knowing! You see, I was walking in the streets one night when I was suddenly struck from behind. It was so fast I couldn't even hear it coming. Then, the next thing I knew, when I came to again I was stuck in this parcel! All wrapped up and everything!"

"So… you have no idea why you were sent here either?" the husband asked.

"Hey look! There's a return address here!" the wife said. "The sender was… somebody called Ukyo Kuonji, from Nerima, Tokyo? Who's that?"

"No idea," the husband said.

However, Mr Saotome's face paled from hearing this name. "Oh no… That's a huge problem! If she's in Nerima…!" He was beginning to worry now. "Where is this? How far are we from Nerima?"

"This is Hokkaido…"

Mr Saotome jumped up in shock. "Hokkaido? It'll take over a day to get back! I have to hurry up!" He immediately began running out.

"Wait a moment!" the husband cried out. But he had already left their house.

"Oh, if he had asked, I would have helped buy a train ticket for him…"

* * *

 **Haha, looks like I was right about me taking ages to write more updates for this thing. But that means that you'll just have to follow this to keep track, right? Now go click the follow button...**

 **As it turns out, not having any ideas where the story will go makes later chapters harder and harder to write. So I don't know how much longer this story will/can go on for. Also because of this I probably will be leaving out lots of plot threads introduced in these chapters - sorry!**

 **Sorry if there are any grammatical mistakes in this, I suck at proofreading my work.**

 **Also, thanks for all the reviews! If you have any questions, or just things you want to say, drop one in!  
** **To epain: I admit I was a bit heavy-handed in setting up the story (as well as any number of other things), but I guess that's what I get for zero proper planning. Maybe if I do another story, I'll actually write down some sort of plan for what it'll be.**


	4. Chapter 4

Finally, it was the end of the three days Ranma had to spend at school as a girl. And it had been a hectic three days as well, with the introduction of a new boy at Furinkan. Certainly, a lot more things had happened in the span of those three days than average. But now that Ranma could return to his male form, maybe everything at school would calm down too.

Ranma found himself ready for breakfast a lot sooner than usual, and with his father gone, he had nobody to spar with either. Itching to have something to do, Ranma decided to go see how Kasumi was doing in the kitchen.

"Hey Kasumi, is there anything you need help with?" Ranma asked as he peered round the edge of the doorway.

"Oh hi! I forgot you were a boy again now!" Kasumi said without turning round, still stirring the soup. "Actually, I'm fine… but I guess you could help chop up some onions?" she said, realising Ranma wanted to do something at least.

Ranma grabbed a knife to begin chopping. "Sure! I can manage onions without crying, no problem!"

Kasumi smiled. "I'm sure you can. What about when you're in your girl form? Do you cry then?"

"I don't know, I've never tried,"

"Maybe you should. You might be better at cooking if you do it in your girl form."

Ranma thought about this for a moment. "Hmm… But I won't ever need to, so I'll just stick in the form I prefer."

"I guess you really are glad to be back as a boy."

"Uh huh! Of course! Now I can go back and beat up all the boys who looked at me over the past three days!" Ranma said, chopping the onions faster. "And Happosai! Especially him!"

* * *

When Ranma and Akane got to school, Kuno and Ukyo were already there and waiting again. Akane instinctively and automatically ran up to Kuno and gave him a mighty kick that sent him flying. He could be heard crying out "Date meeeeeeee" as he flew further away, in a wide arc over the school. The three others watched his trajectory until he was out of sight behind the school building.

"Hey, where's Ranko?" was the first thing Ukyo asked. But then he saw who it was in front of him, Ranma Saotome instead of Ranko. Ukyo jumped back, and glared at him menacingly. "You're here! What kept you so long, hiding for three days?"

Ranma was taken aback. What had he done to aggravate Ukyo? And even if there was something, wouldn't it have been when he was a girl?

Then he remembered that Ukyo had mentioned something about this before. Luckily his secret wasn't exposed just yet.

Ranma decided to deal with the sudden problem that had appeared with one of the trademark Saotome techniques: running away. He dragged Akane with him through the front doors and up the stairs to their classroom.

"Hey! Don't try to run off!" Ukyo shouted at him, but he was already away.

* * *

However, Ukyo was in the same class as Ranma and Akane. "Crap! How did I manage to forget that?" Ranma thought when he saw Ukyo follow the two of them into their classroom. Ukyo did not look pleased at all, he had a stern look on his face that didn't give away much.

Ukyo, surprisingly enough, did not talk to Ranma though, instead he sat back in his own seat as if nothing had happened, apart from his sour mood.

"Huh?" Ranma said. What was up with him? One moment he was attacking him, the next he was ignoring him? How confusing.

Akane was, naturally, sulking about how Ranma had violently dragged her. But instead of beating him up, this time she was venting about it to Yuka and Sayuri. "My arm still hurts from that! He's so inconsiderate, he should know I like Ukyo!"

Yuka gasped. "You… you like Ukyo?"

"No! Not like that! As in, I don't want to get dragged into whatever fight Ranma's having with him."

"Oh…" Yuka sighed, with a hint of disappointment and relief. Sayuri on the other hand sniggered.

"Shut up!" said Akane.

Akane glared at where Ranma was sitting. He was currently slouched on the desk. Then he looked up, saw Akane's expression, gave a "hmph!" and turned his head away. Akane did the same.

A little later, their teacher came into the classroom to take the register and other such duties. The whole class hushed down and moved to their seats.

Then Ukyo got up and walked to the front of the class. The teacher was puzzled, but stood to the side.

"I have an announcement to make!" Ukyo declared. "I challenge Ranma Saotome to a duel, today, at noon, on the school yard in front of the gym!"

Ukyo finished his speech, looking around the class, feeling satisfied. But instead of the faces of surprise he expected, he was met with looks of boredom.

"Again?"

"Really?"

"Of course this happens…"

"Give me a break…"

Ukyo looked around, confused.

"Alright, now if you're done now, get back to your seat. I need to take the register." the teacher said, pushing Ukyo aside and taking his place at the centre of the front. Ukyo, a bit unsure, walked back to his desk and sat down.

"Well that wasn't the result I was looking for…"

* * *

Lunch break came around, and most of the school had already gathered around a space in front of the gym. In the centre was a raised platform with ropes around the edge, resembling a boxing ring. There was clearly something about to happen, a fight most likely, but naturally most of the students already knew from the gossip being passed around and between classes throughout the morning. The only people oblivious to all this were the teachers, and that wasn't because they didn't know, it was that they didn't want to interfere and possibly get hurt. Everybody knew that nobody was a match for either Ukyo or Ranma in this school.

In the centre of the ring stood Ukyo. He had already prepared by setting up some pots full of ingredients along the edge of the ring. The aroma of the freshly prepared ingredients wafted far and wide, giving everyone an appetite. By now most students had encountered Ukyo's cooking. His okonomiyaki had already become famous throughout the school. Because of this a lot of the students were in support of Ukyo, and had even bet on him to win this fight. This wasn't entirely motivated by food, however - there was also the fact that Ukyo had comprehensively beaten Kuno at his own game.

On the edge of the crowd, pushing his way through, was Ranma. He was not particularly happy about this, having to fight somebody because of some grudge held against him again. While Ranma enjoyed being able to freely fight against someone, he didn't know how good or bad Ukyo was. Also, to be frank, Ranma simply wanted a bit of a break this day after having to spend three strenuous days as his female self.

Anyway, Ranma made it to the ring, and hopped in. "Why don't you tell me first why you even challenged me to this duel? I think I have a right to know."

Ukyo looked somewhat taken aback. "You need me to explain to you why I'm doing such a thing? What are you, dumb?"

"Hey, don't call me dumb! I can't remember a thing I could have done to upset you from the day we met to when we left! Unless you're still upset about me beating you everyday for okonomiyaki?" Ranma shouted back.

"What? No! Are you actually stupid, it was because of you leaving!" Ukyo shouted back.

"Well, sorry for not giving you a proper farewell!"

This whole motive for revenge reminded Ranma of a certain somebody else. Was it in his fate to cause bad things to happen to people he left or something?

"Oh, for god's sake! That's enough talking, it's time for fighting!" Ukyo pointed at Ranma for greater dramatic effect. The crowd cheered.

"Oh, you wanna fight? I'm ready!" Ranma said, sinking into stance.

Ukyo and Ranma readied to charge at each other.

* * *

 **Oh dear, I'm rapidly reaching the point where I have no idea what to put next. But here's what I had saved about three months ago, and I figured I should at least put it out here first. Another reason I decided to stop here is because I struggle to write fight scenes a lot. How do I not repeat myself too much when I write them?**

 **Well, whatever. Don't expect a chapter 5 anytime soon though. I might come back to this but it might very well end up being rewritten, and even then that's not very likely. Or maybe I'll start another story, only this time I'll actually put some planning into it.**

 **Other questions - what is too short for a chapter, and what is too long? This chapter is substantially shorter than the other three, because I gave up halfway through, but is it actually too short to publish as a complete chapter? I realise different people have different styles and preferences, but I'd like to know what people actually like.**

 **Is the description for this story okay, or should I put more detail into it? I know that I only choose to read something if the description intrigues me, but I don't know exactly what that even is. Right now the current summary seems to me to be a bit low-effort.**

 **Okay I'm rambling on quite a bit now. Goodbye readers.**


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